AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 127

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2018

 

"Sun-Mi, wake up and listen! ... You're the only one who can stop Young-Mi, and save Director Yoon." -- Jo Cho-Jeh

 

 

SANTORINI ISLAND, GREECE, SEVERAL WEEKS LATER...

 

"Any packages arrive this morning, Su-Ji?"

 

Su-Ji had just set foot on the villa's north terrace overlooking a wide expanse of shoreline, where Sun-Mi is enjoying a cooling sea breeze blowing off the crystal-clear, ultramarine-blue water of the Aegean Sea.

 

"Why? Were you expecting one?" Su-Ji answers. Tanned bronze from the Mediterranean sun and wearing a faded blue Old Navy T-shirt and cutoff jean shorts, she approaches the patio table with her pink rubber flip flops slapping on the marble pavers.

 

"While he was in Milan, Min-Cho said he arranged to have a pair of Sergio Rossi's sent. That was several days ago," Sun-Mi explains. "I want to wear that new dress from Chanel's Fall/Winter Collection for dinner, and I've nothing the right color to go with it."

 

Su-Ji regards Sun-Mi with a roll of her eyes, noting that this morning -- like every other morning -- Sun-Mi is perfectly coiffed, made up, and dressed as if about to step in front of a camera...

 

"Why not just wear something else, then?" Su-Ji suggests. "Or what you have on now..."

 

Sun-Mi is dressed in a black-and-white striped, sleeveless H&M top, red Kate Spade patterned silk wrap skirt, and natural suede Chlo� espadrille platform wedge sandals. A white cotton cardigan laid over her bare shoulders, wide-brimmed straw hat, and Celine sunglasses shield her milk-cream complexion in the sunlight blazing down from a cloudless sky...

 

"Evenings should be a bit more formal," Sun-Mi replies with a 'how-could-you-not know' tone.

 

"What difference does it make?" Su-Ji dismisses Sun-Mi's bias, "Who cares what you wear, anyway?"

 

"I do," Sun-Mi states forcefully. "I always want to look my best for my audiences. After all, without their love, where would I be?"

 

"What audiences? There's no one here except me and the caretakers," Su-Ji says truthfully, then sees Sun-Mi's mouth tighten, lips pressed together in a thin scowl...

 

"Here's your coffee..." she quickly changes the subject to the reason she came out.

 

Su-Ji sets one of the two cups she is carrying on the patio table, then sits in the opposite chair with her own cup, looking on her charge, she empathizes... relegated from the cusp of world-wide acclamation to isolated obscurity, unable to even admire your own finery... that's as good a reason as any to be irritable ...

 

 

"Thanks," Sun-Mi answers tersely, then offers an appreciative smile to ease the tense atmosphere. "Your coffee is the best."

 

Su-Ji rejects the compliment as groundless flattery. "You haven't even tried it yet."

 

Sun-Mi reaches for where the chink of ceramic on glass had sounded, and as she grasps the cup, points out, "Since it has the same wonderful aroma as every other day, I know what to expect, so I can trust it."

 

"Or take it for granted," Su-Ji gripes, still annoyed.

 

Sun-Mi doesn't respond as she sips her coffee, holding back a reflexive retaliatory response as she considers her guardian empathetically... stuck here only because Min-Cho insisted on someone he trusts during his absence... that's as good a reason as any to be annoyed ...

 

 

For a few minutes, the two women share their coffee in a mutual reflective silence, enjoying the gentle breeze, listening to the calls of the circling gulls and the waves breaking on the rocky beach 15 meters below...

 

 

"It's a fair wind this morning. What does the sea look like?" Sun-Mi finally reopens their conversation on what she hopes is a less contentious topic.

 

"You ask that every day," Su-Ji, retorts, still making cause to be annoyed.

 

"That's because the sea changes every day," Sun-Mi points out the obvious.

 

"Then for a change, why don't you tell me instead?" Su-Ji jabs critically. "Don't you think it's about time? The dreams have stopped, and the doctors can't find any physiological cause. You just have to want to..."

 

"Do you really think I want this? That it's easy?" Sun-Mi interrupts, tired of Su-Ji's constant needling.

 

"It seems pretty easy to me," Su-Ji counters. "No one expects anything from you... Lazing around like some Princess, while Min-Cho spoils you, catering to your every whim."

 

"Is that how it looks? You try this sometime, and tell me then how you like it!" Sun-Mi contests Su-Ji's assertions crossly.

 

"Are you done feeling sorry for yourself now?" Su-Ji scoffs, any sympathy she'd had before gone like a wisp of smoke in the wind. "I really expected more of you than whining. Am I wrong?"

 

Su-Ji's harsh words are like a slap in Sun-Mi's face. "I'm not looking for sympathy or excuses," she shoots back irately.

 

"Then prove it... to me, to Min-Cho, and to yourself," Su-Ji issues the challenge. "You got knocked down, but it's time to get back up again, unless you intend to spend the rest of your life sitting on a terrace drinking coffee..."

 

Sun-Mi, fuming, abruptly declares the matter closed," I've had enough lecturing for one day."

 

"Fine... you won't have to put up with me anymore," Su-Ji states curtly. "Michaelmas Term starts in a few days."

 

 

Caught unawares, Sun-Mi is taken aback, "What? ... You decided to attend Cambridge after all?"

 

"Since Min-Cho returns tomorrow, you won't need me, and frankly, I'm not making any difference, anyway," Su-Ji justifies her decision. Then� before Sun-Mi can dispute further, she stands and excuses herself, "I've an errand to run, so I'll be out until evening."

 

About to go, she stops and slaps something down on the table. "Here, this is for you..."

 

Sun-Mi locates and picks it up, puzzled as she identifies the object by its shape. "A phone?"

 

"Min-Cho told me to hold off, but I decided to give it to you anyway."

 

"What am I going to do with this?" Sun-Mi wonders at Su-Ji's action. "We don�t have service here."

 

"Min-Cho lied," Su-Ji discloses their deception. "He didn't want you distracted, hoping that might help you get better. But since it apparently hasn't, keeping it from you doesn't make any sense now."

 

Sun-Mi isn't sure whether Su-Ji's reasoning is positive or negative regarding her, and answers sarcastically, "Thanks, I guess..."

 

"I'm going now," Su-Ji says as she walks away. "I'll ask Tomaso to watch for your package..."

 

 

After Su-Ji is gone, Sun-Mi ponders how to use her new freedom of communication... "I'll call Daddy first," she considers, then decides she'd prefer hearing the inside scoop on Seoul happenings over the past weeks.

 

"No... Cho-Jeh..." she says as she presses the number...

 

 

Cho-Jeh answers immediately...

 

"Jin Sun-Mi, I've been trying to call you for weeks! What happened to your phone?" she scolds.

 

"Oh... that... I lost it on 9/11," Sun-Mi gives the reason. "I just got this new one today."

 

"You won't believe what's going on here," Cho-Jeh says excitedly. "Huh Young-Mi is back, working for MBS again as an announcer!"

 

Sun-Mi is surprised. "I knew she left the convent, but how did that happen?"

 

"I heard that Director Yoon himself offered her a job," Cho-Jeh reports, "because with Manager Yoo Joo-Hee leaving, they needed another experienced announcer."

 

"But Young-Mi has amnesia, how could she do it?"

 

"Joo-Hee trained her," Cho-Jeh explains. "It was all hush-hush, so nobody knew what was up, until Young-Mi appeared on 'Right Foot and Left Foot' to replace Jung Eun-Hye."

 

"The children's program?" Sun-Mi considers the possibility, and concurs. "Why not? If Senior Joo-Hee thinks she is qualified, it sounds like a good fit. Young-Mi did spend a lot of time with the orphans, and really seems to love children."

 

 

"But there's more," Cho-Jeh is anxious to share the gossip. "There's rumors Young-Mi will take the News At Nine, and I found out for a fact that she is secretly dating Director Yoon, too..."

 

"You know Director Yoon and I broke up," Sun-Mi reminds her friend, "If he wants to date someone, it's his choice.

 

"I don't believe you!" Cho-Jeh is astonished. "You're just going to let her become the Queen of MBS?"

 

"I'm not competing with Young-Mi anymore... she's my sister now. Director Yoon is a good man. Shouldn't I take Young-Mi's side, and wish happiness for her?"

 

 

"You wouldn't say that, if you knew what I know," Cho-Jeh hints. "The other day, Jin-Soo and I overheard Young-Mi talking with someone named Bae In-Soo, about a scheme involving Director Yoon. And it sounded like she's two-timing Director Yoon with this guy, on top of it!"

 

"Bae In-Soo?" Sun-Mi ponders the name. "I don't recall him. And what would Young-Mi be plotting, if she already is dating Director Yoon? Are you certain this is what you heard?"

 

"One hundred percent certain!" Cho-Jeh vows. "Everyone thinks Young-Mi is so good now, but how she talked... she's not what she seems to be... she's a witch, putting her spell over everyone, just like before! ... But nobody will even listen, much less believe me."

 

"What difference does it make to me?" Sun-Mi says stiffly, even as she feels her heart tug with concern. "Senior and I are finished, and my life, and career -- if I ever have one again -- are in New York."

 

"Jin Sun-Mi... wake up and listen!" Cho-Jeh is adamant. "You're the only one who can stop Young-Mi, and save Director Yoon..."

 

"I can't even help myself now," Sun-Mi sighs, "much less save someone else..."

 

"What's happened to you? Cho-Jeh admonishes. "Where is the Jin Sun-Mi I used to know? That person who would move heaven and earth to fight for what she believed in? What have you done with her?"

 

"Even if I wanted to, what can I do?"

 

"All that talk about sincerity, and loyalty, and True Love? Was it just crap?" Cho-Jeh argues vehemently. "All those people who listened to you, and because of you found hope and believed there's good in this world, you're just going to let them down?"

 

"But Cho-Jeh, I can't..."

 

"Huh!... You're more of a phony than Young-Mi!... I'm so disappointed... I'm hanging up now!"

 

 

The call cuts off, and Sun-Mi puts her phone down on the table. The stiffening breeze in her face, the relentless waves crashing, the raucous calls of the gulls... all mock her now...

 

Tears overflow and run down her cheeks as she pours out her frustrations to the wind and the sea...

 

"Senior, I want to come back to you, with all my heart, I really do," she sobs weakly. "But I'm so useless... even if you could forgive me, there's nothing I can do now... I'm sorry, so sorry..."